Impromptu Trip to KC, St. Paddy's Day, and a Wildcat Win

Dex getting his shamrock; I'm sure he wasn't this still for very long. Owen and I were at his appt. when the kids got their shamrocks. Because of Owen's diet restrictions, he couldn't have gotten one anyways. :(

The whole gang, green and happy.

I know this is Owen's blog, but COME ON. Can we say, Gavin?!

Boy, did our seemingly uneventful week turn into a big ball of chaotic plans and exhaustion in the blink of an eye! I got a phone call from Owen's keto diet nurse Tuesday afternoon, wanting us to come in for an appt. Thursday morning. What does that mean? We had to leave the next day for KC. What else does that mean? Gavin had to work, so it was just the boys and I this time...our first trip without dad. :( Now, to any regular Joe, taking two kids to KC isn't a big deal. Oh, but it is. You'd be surprised the silly, normally irrevelant situations that I obsess over. Like.....I can't just stop and go to the bathroom. I can't leave the kids in the car by themselves for two minutes while I go tinkle. Or....how I get that huge, awkward-shaped 40 lb. wheelchair into the trunk of my Camry all by myself when Gavin ALWAYS does it. Well, I learned a very important lesson during this lightning-fast trip to KC. Gavin is irreplaceable and I'm never scheduling an appt. on his work day ever again. On top of the normal anxiety of a trip by myself, both kids were battling congestion. And I'm not talking a little snot and a little cough. I'm talking Pukesville U.S.A. I'm pretty sure I (with Rachel and Kev's help) cleaned up five or six puke sessions in the short time we were visiting. This happens often with Owen; he gets so much mucus built up in the back of his throat that when he tries to eat, he chokes himself, and it all comes back out. (Yuck, yuck, and more yuck I might add)
So what did we learn from Owen's appointment? Well, first of all, this appointment was a check-up to discuss our next step and the status of the diet. Let me brief you on how the last five months plus have gone. I go into the appointment with this "No-holds-barred, bad a**" attitude that I'm not taking no for an answer and this is the day that Owen DEFINITELY is getting off the diet this time. Seriously, I pump myself up before each appointment. Then, the dr. will give me some excuse as to why now's not the time to get off the diet, even though during the previous appointment, he told me we would try ONE MORE THING and then get off the diet if it didn't work. And the cycle continues....he shut me down AGAIN. SO, Owen has started a new medication called Zonogran, and is staying on the ketogenic diet. Grrrrr. That was my attempt to put frustration into writing if you couldn't tell. So exactly WHY am I this anti-diet you ask? Owen has been on this ketogenic diet since May 1st (yes, I remember the exact day...it was an eternity ago). The staples of the diet are: chicken/tuna/beef/ham/eggs, butter/mayo/oil, water/crystal light, and a splash of vegetable/fruit and heavy whipping cream. No milk. No oatmeal. No cake. Not even bananas. And on top of this very specific menu, I have to measure out every single ingredient to the gram on a food scale. Every meal. Every ingredient. No snacks. No birthday cake. Not to mention Owen chokes down every meal he eats...it's horrible and he does not deserve this abuse. Finally, it doesn't even seem to be worth it for his seizures. He still has around the same number he did when we started. This dr. of Owen's seems to have a way of twisting my words around, and at the end of the conversation, he truly believes the diet is helping. Hmmm. I don't know how in the world he does it, but I always walk out of that doctor's office feeling defeated.
On top of continuing the diet, Owen had to get his blood taken (like always) to check his levels. We did this the evening before to get it over with because we've had HORRIBLE experiences in the past. Well, to make a long story short, the tests came back wacko, so he had to get stuck AGAIN. Yep, the tests were wrong, and the second time around they were accurate. Once again, I'm a little exhausted with people not doing their jobs right the first time. But Owen was a trooper, and that's all that matters I guess.
To end on a positive note, the boys and I got to spend some QT with their super cool cousins, Max, Adrienne, and Kendall. We went to Union Station to partake in the St. Paddy's Day festivities, where Dex got a killer shamrock painted on his cheek (that looked like a smeared dirt spot by the time Owen and I met up with them after the appointment). Rachel snapped some cute pictures and we all had a good time...St. Patrick's Day AND and a Wildcat win? Who could ask for a better trip!